Cranks but wont start.

[E61Silver]

Open the hood and have someone else try to start it, are the belts spinning?

[Sean Morrison]

Did you ever find the cause for this? I've got an '03 X5 3.0i that is cranking but not starting. There were no intermittent drivability issues before I parked it. The battery is genuine Bosch and is only a year old. I pulled it out and topped off the charge anyway. I also jumped 12V directly to the fuel pump leads under the seat and can hear it running. I also hear what sounds like a quick priming of the pump when switched to key position 2. I pulled the ignition switch out last night and gave it a through cleaning with CRC Electronics cleaner after popping the cover off from it. I'm going to re-install it tonight and see if that helps.

[Morrison]

Just wanted to update this with what I found. Cleaning the ignition switch didn't fix my "cranks but won't start issue." I tried both keys, depressing the throttle to the floor, nada. Finally I tried disconnecting the MAF as I'd seen suggested a couple of times on here and wala, roared to life. I had been quick to rule it out because it had been said that the MAF is not in effect during startup.

Now I need to figure out if it just needs to be cleaned or replaced.

[Sean Morrison]

Cleaned the MAF with leftover CRC Electronics Cleaner QD from when I cleaned the ignition switch and am happy to report, in the words of Borat - "Great Success!"